(CNN) -- Tensions were rising in Bolivia on Saturday
as members of the country's four highest natural
gas-producing regions declared autonomy from the
central government.

Thousands waved the Santa Cruz region's
green-and-white flags in the streets as council
members of the Santa Cruz, Tarija, Beni and Pando
districts made the public announcement.

The officials displayed a green-bound document
containing a set of statutes paving the way to a
permanent separation from the Bolivian government.

Council representatives vowed to legitimize the
so-called autonomy statutes through a referendum that
would legally separate the natural-gas rich districts
from President Evo Morales' government.

The move also aims to separate the states from
Bolivia's new constitution, which calls for, among
other things, a heavier taxation on the four regions
to help finance more social programs.

"The statutes will be ratified," said Oscar Ortiz,
Santa Cruz senator. "With a public referendum, the
people of our region will legitimize their will."

About 35 percent of Bolivia's 9.5 million people live
in the four states, according to The Associated Press.

In the meantime, Bolivian network ATV showed what
appeared to be armed, pro-government protesters
creating blockades around the town of Yapacani, on the
outskirts of Santa Cruz.

Some indigenous pro-Morales groups claim Bolivia's
richer, white-ruled Eastern regions want to control
the country's natural resources. Bolivia has South
America's second-largest natural gas reserves, behind
Venezuela. Most of it is produced in the Eastern
regions.Video Watch Bolivian leader speak out »

In the capital city La Paz on Saturday, Morales
addressed thousands of flag-waving supporters in the
Plaza Murillo, defending the new constitution and
lashing out against what he called the racist policies
of Bolivia's elite.

"They must give back the money they took from us," he
told a cheering crowd, which included members of the
Quechua and Aymara tribes. "We will retroactively
investigate all the big fortunes, and the corrupt are
now trembling with fear."

Morales also cautioned those who he said want a "a
division, a coup d'etat," the AP reported.

"We won't permit Bolivia to be divided," he warned.

Morales -- who belongs to the Aymara indigenous group
-- nationalized the country's oil and natural gas
reserves when he took power in 2006, creating what
became known as the "gas wars."

Running on a platform of redistribution of wealth
among Bolivia's poor, Morales has defied countries
such as Brazil and the United States for the
exploration of Bolivia's natural reserves.

He has also protested the country's racial divide.
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"Bolivia is a nation among nations," he said Saturday,
referring to the diversity of Indian nations whose
traditions date back centuries.

"We are not a country of blue-eyed, green-eyed folks
only. It's a plurinational country made of
dark-skinned and white-skinned. This new constitution
will unite us."

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